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Do You Know About The Chechen-Led Massacre at Beslan?

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Beslan. Photo source: Reuters

Chechnya, a Russian republic that has not been on the public radar since its wars with Russia in the 1990s, has long been a hot-bed of Islamic extremism. An earlier report in TheBlaze even highlighted the growing presence of Saudi Wahhabism — the most puritanical and stringent form of Islam — in the North Caucasus as the region serves as a base of operation for al-Qaeda operatives among other jihadis.

To illustrate just how volatile the region is, it perhaps is prudent to look at the infamous Beslan massacre, in which 186 children and 148 adults were savagely massacred by jihadists demanding Chechen independence.

On September 1, 2004 the Chechen-Islamic militant group, Riyadus-Salikhin Battalion, set siege to “School Number One” (SNO), a grade school Beslan, North Ossetia, another Russian republic situated in the North Caucasus. Over 1,100 people including 777 children were taken hostage, 384 of whom were killed. In the aftermath approximately 180 were reported missing.

Chechen terrorist Shamil Basayev led the massacre, all the while demanding the carnage was to facilitate Chechen independence from Russia.

On the third day of the crisis, Russian security forces, using tanks and rockets, reclaimed the school, but the damage was done. Reports indicate that survivors remain traumatized to date.

Below, Glenn Beck and a panel of experts review the graphic events of those three fateful days in 2004, as well as discussed Chechen-Islamic terrorism in greater detail. Caution, the videos below contain graphic details about the massacre: